The present invention relates to an occupant protecting device for protecting an occupant in a seat of a vehicle, such as an automobile, at the time of a collision. More particularly, the invention relates to an occupant protecting device for preventing forward movement of the body of the occupant when the vehicle is involved in a frontal collision.
In order to prevent a submarine phenomenon in which an occupant wearing a seatbelt moves through a space below a lap belt when a vehicle collides from its front side, a device for raising the front portion of a seat cushion when the vehicle collides has been proposed as a system for protecting the occupant of an automobile. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-309967 (incorporated by reference herein) discloses a vehicle seat having a seat cushion whose front end portion is pushed up by an explosive actuator, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-217818 (incorporated by reference herein) discloses a vehicle seat having a seat cushion whose front end portion is pushed up by an airbag.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-247010 (incorporated by reference herein), discloses an occupant protecting device comprising an elongated bag and a pretensioner. The bag becomes shorter when it is inflated, and is disposed below the front portion of a seat cushion of a seat comprising the seat cushion and a seat back. The pretensioner pulls down a seatbelt buckle when the bag is inflated and shortened.
Inflatable seatbelt devices are publicly known as occupant protecting devices.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 11-334523, 11-348721, and 2000-255358 (both incorporated by reference herein) disclose exemplary devices. The inflatable seatbelt devices comprise a bag that is, like an ordinary seatbelt, provided along the front surface of the body of an occupant, and is inflated by a gas generator at the time of a collision.